Australian Jewish News
September 8, 2011
http://www.jewishnews.net.au/man-arrested-over-abuse-of-12-boys/22767
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DAVID Cyprys, 43, was released on bail on Tuesday night after being arrested and charged with 16 counts of indecent assault and 13 counts of gross indecency.
Cyprys faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday on charges that he had assaulted 12 boys within the Chabad-Lubavitch community between 1984 and 1991, some aged as young as seven.
Cyprys’s was the first arrest as part of an investigation into offences against Jewish children being undertaken by Victoria Police’s Moorabbin Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit. It is understood investigators have spoken to numerous witnesses, who have accused Cyprys and other members of the Orthodox community of wrongdoing. The police prosecutor, Detective Senior Constable Lisa Metcher told the court investigators are receiving between five and 10 calls daily in connection to the case.
Cyprys’s lawyer Alex Lewenberg said his client raised the $50,000 required for bail on Tuesday night. Cyprys will face the court again on December 2.
In the meantime, Cyprys has been prevented from having unsupervised contact with any minors, including his own children and those of his partner.
The magistrate requested a large surety after being told Cyprys was a flight risk.
Cyprys, a security guard and locksmith, had been asked by police to hand in his passport, but said he could not find it.
Detective Senior Constable Metcher also told the court she believed there was a chance some members of the Jewish community, or even the Israeli diplomats, might help Cyprys flee.
In response, Lewenberg asked who the community members were.
Detective Senior Constable Metcher replied it was some individuals from the “Yeshivah community” who had failed to cooperate with police during their investigation and who were interested in seeing the matter “swept under the carpet”.
While Detective Senior Constable Metcher was reading from notes, none of the alleged supporters of Cyprys were named.
The magistrate also raised concern that as a Jewish person, Cyprys had the “right of return” and was therefore at risk of travelling to and settling in Israel.
Magistrate Luisa Bazzani heard that of the 12 alleged victims, five currently lived in Victoria, five in New South Wales and two overseas. The abuse is alleged to have taken place in Melbourne and during school camps.
Yeshivah College principal Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler this week released a statement acknowledging the arrest and adding the school “continues to cooperate fully with police”.
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